


Shiber?

by feversan



Series: Baby San Agenda [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I wrote shiber like 299292 times, M/M, Oneshot, SO MUCH FLUFF, Self-Esteem Issues, Soft Choi San, Soft smooches, Woosan are so sweet :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feversan/pseuds/feversan
Summary: “Wait, Youngie, you’re right. Dogs are allergic to chocolate, aren’t they? I’ve been feeding him poison for so long, is he even alive?!” San cries out. His eyes are doing the thing where they get hot and blurry again, but he doesn’t know if he has it in him to blink it away. San takes a look into Shiber's lifeless, knitted eyes, and it all makes sense to him- why Shiber never eats, never speaks. San fuckingkilledhim.
Relationships: Choi San/Jung Wooyoung
Series: Baby San Agenda [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944487
Kudos: 48





	Shiber?

**Author's Note:**

> Yee I know Shiber is an old joke  
> Yes I know the pacing is wack and my continuity sucks but I just wanted to get this out of my drafts bc it's been there f o r e v e r

San awoke with a low groan, joints popping and body aching from his premature sleep at 9pm. He was so worn from his three-day road trip with Mingi, crashing on his bed and cuddling with a stuffed animal without greeting Wooyoung before blacking out for fourteen hours straight. Cracking his knuckles and thumbs, San stretched his lithe limbs and taut muscles, eager to get them oiled up for the day. San placed a foot on the ground, the cold hardwood sending jolts through his skin.

That’s when he noticed something was missing. 

The stuffed animal he usually hugs to sleep is a comfort for San- something warm to hold when Wooyoung wasn’t present or in the mood for San's routine clinginess. San used to always carry it with him, the stuffed Shiba dog worn and tattered from years of hugging it, crying into it, and throwing it at anyone who called him childish. 

Shiber is his name. And he was _gone_. 

San yanked the covers, scouted the floor, crouched on his sore knees to look under his bed, but Shiber wasn’t anywhere to be found. He always falls asleep with it; how could it have disappeared overnight? Did someone break in and steal Shiber right from under his nose? Did the toy come to life after San took his eye off of it, sprinting away and leaving San with nothing to hold onto but the cold, unforgiving crisp air of the night? 

If San wasn’t fully awake before, he was now.

Panic arises in his chest, threatening to spill into his eyes as he looks in the bathroom, Wooyoung's room, and the living room. Shiber isn’t anywhere.

San's breathing starts to stretch thin, feeling as if he’d lost something alive and not just a raggedy stuffed animal his mother gave to him as a gift before college. He almost feels stupid for freaking out about losing a silly toy, but Shiber was a strange comfort to San for years, acting as a shoulder to cry on and a stark reminder of his mom who he hasn’t seen since she moved to the States. Maybe it’s also the Cancer zodiac springing to life, but San feels as if he could actually cry right now. There’s definitely a strange weight settling thick and heavy on San's chest, and he has a feeling it’s more than just losing Shiber that’s causing it. 

San also wonders where Wooyoung is as he steps out into the living room again, hoping he’s in the mood for a particularly sensitive San who’s nearing on the edge of something much bigger than the panicked fervor of losing Shiber.

If San can’t manage to find Wooyoung either within their own shared apartment, then he might actually break. 

“San? Nice to see you’re finally awake.” The familiar ring of a voice pulls San's gaze from his feet, meeting the twinkling eyes of none other than his stupidly cute boyfriend. 

Wooyoung. 

San’s lips curve up into a fast, bright smile as he hurries over to the other man with his arms spread wide open. He crashes into Wooyoung harder than he means to, chests flush with each other and San's head pressed into Wooyoung's inviting shoulder. San smiles wide enough for it to hurt the ends of his cheeks as the shorter man reciprocates the hug, throwing an arm over San's waist and patting his head with the other. San felt so warm inside that he almost forgot about the pressing matter at hand concerning Shiber's whereabouts. Almost.

San clings on tighter, as if he was the North pole of a magnet attached to Wooyoung's South pole. He feels the other kiss the top of his disheveled bedhead and mutter a soft “Missed you, Sannie" before Wooyoung detaches himself from San while still holding onto his slim waist. 

“You haven’t been here for three days. That’s three days with no attention,” Wooyoung pouts. The younger's plump, blush colored lips are staring San in the eyes, begging to be kissed, but San only chuckles as he tries to wring the anxiety coiled around the pit of his stomach. He doesn’t try to draw attention to himself, but Wooyoung notices anyway. He was always attentive, even if he didn’t show it.

“Is something wrong?” Wooyoung asks, eyes gleaming in concern and hands gripping harder at the smallest part of San's waist. 

“Um, w-where’s Shiber?” San's voice sounds like cracking glass, the idea of the plush toy being potentially gone forever almost shattering his delicate heart. Wooyoung chews on his lip in thought before answering, face lighting up in an animated shine.

“Oh! He fell on the floor while you were sleeping, so I picked him and noticed he was… a little dirty. No, he was _very_ dirty, Sannie, what did you do to him? Anyway, I washed him and now he’s in the dryer.” Wooyoung smiled, rounded cheeks and plush lips curling up and poking at San's fragile heart. So that’s where Shiber went! He wasn’t lost!

Wait, Wooyoung _washed_ him? 

Ever since San was seventeen, he’d always kept Shiber in his room or in his arms, never to be taken anywhere else. That _includes_ the washing machine where the poor toy could possibly be torn to shreds and lose its softness before being thrown in the dryer to seal Shiber's death. What if he shrinks in the wash? San knows that’s not how it works, but he’s paranoid and jittery. 

“You washed Shiber? He didn’t need to be washed, he’s perfectly fine the way he is!” San whines pathetically, earning a skeptical eyebrow raise from Wooyoung. San's never had dignity anyway.

“Yeah? San, he was so filthy, there was brown stuff all over him and I’m led to believe you took a shit on him at some point.” 

“But he- he’s- but-" San stutters. He feels like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum over spilled milk, but his mind isn’t wired to cease his whining at the moment. Wooyoung puts a finger to San's lips, shushing him in a nice attempt to say _Please shut the fuck up. Oh my god._ At least, that’s what San thinks Wooyoung is trying to tell him. 

“What’s with you today? He’s fine, Sannie. I’m sure the dryer’s done by now, so why don’t you see him for yourself, hm?” Wooyoung tilts his head to the side, black hair falling softly over his delicate eyelashes. And really, how could San say no to that?

“Alright,” San agrees, collecting himself with a deep breath. Wooyoung smiles again, reaching up on his tiptoes slightly to pull San into a quick kiss before leading San by the arm to their laundry room. San braces himself for the worst during their ten second walk to the room, expecting to see Shiber in absolute shambles with all of his stuffing gone. The thought once again almost brings real tears to San's eyes. 

“He’s gonna be so warm once you hold him,” Wooyoung inquires. “Hey, I know you’re worried about him, but he’s fine, better even. Close your eyes and I’ll tell you when to open, okay?” Wooyoung's voice drips with saccharine honey, and San follows his instructions without saying anything else. He half-expects the other to blow air in his ear or start tickling him, but he hears the dryer door open and his arms are soon filled with a pillowy warmth. San hears a faint “You can open your eyes, now" and he’s met with a feather-soft Shiber, newly dried and so very warm. San stuffs his face in the plush's body, inhaling the downy scent and basking in its welcoming heat. 

“Wooyoung, he’s perfect.” San's voice cracks in the middle, but he supposes it can be excused. His son almost died; he should be allowed to be caught in his emotions right now. The other man ruffles his hair, scattering his black lagoon of a bedhead around even more. 

“See? He’s all soft and warm now, isn’t he?” San pulls his face from the fresh toy, nodding his head while his lower lip juts out in a pathetic pout. Wooyoung doesn’t miss the chance to pinch San's cheeks, San emitting a high screech from the bowels of his throat. He didn’t even know he was capable of sounding like a five-year-old, too. The taller man continues to hug Shiber close, the heat from the dryer slowly seeping away but still remaining soft nonetheless. San thinks this must be where heaven is.

“I made cookies by the way, they should still be warm,” Wooyoung tells San, giving his full attention to the other as soon as he hears the word “cookies”. “Chocolate chip, gooey, warm, sweet, delicious,” Wooyoung adds further, seemingly noticing the way San's abysmal attention span has caught onto something. His mouth almost waters like a dog, and San has to pull himself back to his humanity before he drools on Shiber in front of the man he loves most. 

“Please,” is the only word San has the capacity of uttering, but Wooyoung smiles at him like always and leads him into the kitchen. Sure enough, fresh baked cookies lay on a pan in front of him, and San wonders how he didn’t smell them before. It was probably the panic blocking his senses. 

“I know that you probably tried feeding Shiber before, and let me remind you, Sannie, that Shiber cannot eat,” Wooyoung accuses him- and rightfully so. Shiber had his own needs, too, and San isn’t such a heartless monster that’d he'd let his only son starve. Yes, he used to feed him chocolate all the time, but San stands with his morals.

“He was hungry, how could I not feed him?” San can practically see the disbelief in Wooyoung's eyes, and he really doesn’t need his boyfriend of all people questioning him.

“Sannie, he doesn’t have a stomach. How will he digest anything? What if he’s allergic or gets indigestion?” Wooyoung asks him out of jest, but the ideas turn a few rusted, unused gears in San's mind. Wooyoung had a point; what if Shiber was allergic to chocolate? He’s a dog after all. Coming to that realization now hits San over the head like a wrench, and the negligence to acknowledge the stuffed dog toy’s anatomy makes him feel like a bad parent. 

Once again, San's heightened emotional sensitivity kicks into high gear. 

“Wait, Youngie, you’re right. Dogs are allergic to chocolate, aren’t they? I’ve been feeding him poison for so long, is he even alive?!” San cries out. His eyes are doing the thing where they get hot and blurry again, but he doesn’t know if he has it in him to blink it away. San takes a look into Shiber's lifeless, knitted eyes, and it all makes sense to him- why Shiber never eats, never speaks. San fucking _killed_ him. 

“Wooyoung, I-I killed Shiber. He’s gone because I’m so stupid and forgot he was a fucking dog," San cries out again, burying his face into his dead son to hide his shame. “I need to be locked up forever." He can’t see Wooyoung roll his eyes through the plush, but he feels the other tap his shoulder twice.

“San, look at me,” he tells the grieving man. San lifts his face from the (presumably dead) stuffed animal, now wet with a singular tear. “Shiber is a special kind of dog who can eat chocolate, didn’t you know? He’s not dead, Sannie, he’s just a quiet fellow,” Wooyoung tells him. The statement only makes San wonder if he was actually annoying Shiber this whole time and now the dog hates him, but he decides to derail the thought when Wooyoung places a chaste kiss on San's forehead. 

“I’m going to go grab my phone from the room, okay? Please don’t feed Shiber or I’ll have to put him in the wash again.” Wooyoung warns, but as soon as he leaves, San's rational thought process crumbles to dust. Maybe if he’s quick about it, no one will ever know.

San reaches for a fresh cookie, true to Wooyoung's word of being soft and gooey, and lifts it to Shiber's nonexistent mouth. “If we’re careful, then Wooyoung never has to know, okay?” San tells the toy. He places it by the sewn mouth, careful not to smear a melted chocolate chip on it and- Fuck.

He smeared a melted chocolate chip on it. 

San panics for probably the ninth time that day, using his white shirt to wipe the stained evidence from Shiber's face. It doesn’t work, and he hears the thumping of Wooyoung's footsteps draw nearer. San scrubs harder, removing some of the brown substance but still leaving a telltale sign of the one thing Wooyoung told him not to do. San abandons all critical thinking and stuffs Shiber inside his shirt as a last resort, hoping the younger man wouldn’t question it even though San knows he absolutely will.

San moves to pick up a cookie, trying his best to act natural. Fake it till you make it, he supposes. 

“How are the cookies?” Wooyoung asks, taking a seat beside San at the countertop. 

“Delicious!” San answers although he hasn’t taken a single bite of one yet, voice a little too high to sound remotely natural. Shiber better fucking like them for the amount of heartache he's putting his owner through. San refuses to make eye contact with Wooyoung, knowing the other is most likely staring at the Shiber-shaped mound from under San's shirt. 

“Why is Shiber under your shirt?” Wooyoung asks the dreaded question. San gulps.

“I’m… pregnant?” 

Wooyoung's expression doesn’t change, and San knows he’s not amused. 

“Pregnant? With Shiber? Isn’t he already born?” Wooyoung questions. Fuck, he was right once again. Since when did Wooyoung develop brain cells? “Look, did you feed him? Be honest,” the other man prods. San sighs, removing the stuffed animal from under his shirt. Now he’s gone and disappointed himself, Shiber and Wooyoung all in one day. 

The evidence was as stark as ever, the chocolate smear on the toy's snout apparent against the white fabric. It was Wooyoung's turn to sigh, looking at San as if he was a misbehaving child. It wasn’t far from the mark. 

“Sannie, I have to wash him again. I told you not to feed him, now he’s all sad and dirty,” he groans.

 _Sad and dirty,_ San thinks. In one morning, he’s managed to fuck up not only Shiber but also get reprimanded by Wooyoung of all people. After all, Wooyoung was just a brat dealing with another brat. None of them were qualified to have rights in this apartment, but San is really pushing it today. 

The deflated expression on San's blotchy face is obvious, his lips trembling and his eyes heating up with the forbidden salt water for the 3rd time in twenty minutes. What’s with him today? San wished he knew so he could put an end to his emotions and flush them out of his system. Maybe he should go back to sleep until he’s done with his inner tantrum.

“Sannie? Are you doing okay? You seem a little… upset.” Wooyoung's voice softens a tad, expression dropping any harsh lines and presenting San with the gentle roundness of his cheeks. To be truthful, San doesn’t have an answer for Wooyoung; sometimes mood changes just happen and he has to find a way to live with it. It’s nothing new to either of them, but the grating feeling doesn’t ease no matter how many times it happens. His “duality" was usually a compliment; how he can act like a super-hot model and then cuddle with plushies the next. It wasn’t always a great thing, though. 

“I don’t know,” is his truthful answer. He doesn’t expect Wooyoung to do anything about it, he never usually talks to him when his mood is down even if he thought it would be a good idea. Wooyoung doesn’t say anything for an awkward few seconds, gaze shifted down as if he was thinking of the right answer to say- as if there was a right answer.

“Do you want to take a bath? I’ll set it up for you and clean Shiber off. I won’t put him in the wash, I’ll just wipe him off. Once you’re clean, we can go take a nap and cuddle, hm?” Wooyoung presented his idea, giving San the same cute dumpling smile and the same cute head tilt. San could never refuse Wooyoung, and a bath and nap sounded fucking amazing at the moment. 

San meekly nods his head, muttering a soft “Yes, please" from his even meeker voice. He feels a little bad that Wooyoung feels the need to cheer him up, but something in San's mind knew that he should let it happen- that he deserves the love and care. Even reluctantly, San will allow it today. Wooyoung once again leads San by the arm, walking into the master bathroom in the younger man's room. 

As Wooyoung turned on the water and searched for shampoo and body wash, San busied himself by playing with his own hands. He felt he should do something to help, but Wooyoung didn’t seem like he’d let San lift even a finger to set his own bath. 

“You can adjust the water to your liking yourself. I’m gonna go wipe him off and then I’ll come wash your hair, ‘kay?” Wooyoung batted his eyes, leaving San wondering how the younger man decided to date him in the first place, but those are shower thoughts for another day. San returned Shiber to Wooyoung, the latter placing a quick peck on his lips before disappearing away to their kitchen. San wished the small kiss lasted longer, his lips tingling with a need to cover the other’s plump, coral-colored lips with his own. Maybe later, he supposes. 

San undresses, watching himself in the mirror as steam clouded the glass and covered his insecure form. He liked looking at himself better that way. 

The water is scalding hot when he steps in, but he lets it burn his unblemished skin as he sits all the way to stew quite literally within himself. His fingers are turning red already, but the man doesn't make a move to let cooler water flow. San felt like a pathetic soup as he sat in his own bath water, drawing his knees up to his chest. He felt safer in this position. 

Soon, the steam billows around him completely, threatening to give San heat exhaustion if he overstayed his luxury. He didn't mind it, the steam hid his form away from his own prying eyes. 

The door opens, then, revealing Wooyoung with a cleaned and happy Shiber. 

"He's all clean- Holy fuck, you need to let this place air out. I can't even see you with all of this steam." Wooyoung coughed, placing Shiber on the toilet lid and fanning away wisps of steam only to be replaced by new ones. The younger man moves to squat beside the tub, San vaguely making out the form of an oversized black shirt draped loose around Wooyoung's slim yet toned form. Wooyoung's fingers dip in the water, quickly retracting them as soon as they made contact with the scorching heat.

"Ow! San you're all red, how are you not uncomfortable?" he chided, earning a shrug from San. 

"It doesn't bother me," he replies. The water was a little too hot for comfort, but San found a distraction in it. The steam dissipates fast with the bathroom door open, revealing San in his entirety as the transparent water did no service in covering him up. Wooyoung had visible sweat droplets dotting his forehead, the heat of the room having worked fast enough to cloud the man in a glowing sheen. San thought it was a nice look on the other man.

The younger man moves closer to the side of the tub, now mere centimeters away from San as he reaches for a shampoo bottle, but San stops his efforts.

"Actually, I think I'll shower or something later. I kind of just want to relax in here for a while." Wooyoung nods, asking no further questions and moving to sit flat on his bottom. 

San reaches for a rubber duck on the sill, the yellow toy bobbing around in the water as the man poked and prodded at it at random. The duck's name was Mingi- named after one of his best friends as Mingi was the one who gifted it to San on his nineteenth birthday. It was found in the middle of the street of some shopping center, but San is just glad he didn't contract any genital or general diseases from it. He smiled, missing the antics he and Mingi had on their chaotic and unorganized trip. Being back to his regular schedule wasn't something he looked forward to, and San felt as if he was trapped in an endless cycle of reoccurring personal issues and the tedious, mundane tasks of life. 

Something in San told him that not everything had to be that way; there was a silver lining to it all, and that particular silver lining began to massage the base of San's neck, bringing out a low rumble from inside his chest. San was used to giving Wooyoung nighttime massages as the younger always complained about his shoulders and lower back, but the new change was welcome. He didn't realize he was leaning to his side until his head was met with a broad shoulder and the smell of semi-expensive cologne wafted through his nose. 

San was glad his hair wasn't wet as Wooyoung played with the messy black strands, pulling San into the in-between of sleep and reality. The small comfort made warmth bloom from within San's chest, his mind starting to create a dreamscape as he left reality and approached a long awaited nap. A sudden kiss to his temple brought him back, and the shoulder he found refuge on pulled away, San subconsciously searching for it as he leaned over the edge and nearly spilled himself over it. 

"I think it's time for that nap, hm? Let's get you dried off." Wooyoung pulled the drain, water pulling and swirling away from San as he felt the cold air of the bathroom ghost over his damp body. A long shiver crawled up San's spine, numbing him to the core as he whined at the loss of heat. Standing up proved to be an even harder task as he felt the gentle breeze of the air current everywhere now, and the feeling made him hunch over like an unflattering rat.

He sort of felt like an unflattering rat as he stood sopping wet on the now soggy bathroom rug, desperately trying to find a dry spot to stand in comfortable peace as Wooyoung found him a towel. Feeling exposed in the bright fluorescent room, San crossed his arms over himself in an attempt to generate both warmth and security. Luckily, San didn't wait long as Wooyoung appeared in front of him with a fluffy, purple towel, seemingly fresh out of the dryer. 

"My dick is getting frostbite, please hurry," San pleaded. 

"Frostbite at room temperature? Some dick you have," Wooyoung teased, beginning to dry off the tops of San's shoulders. 

"Well- then you're taking so long it's starting to fossilize." San looked anywhere but at Wooyoung as the shorter man squatted to dry his legs, said man spending a little too much time down there as he completley dried the circumference of San's calf before giving it a sharp pinch. 

"Kiss it better, you brat." San attempted to sound demanding, but in his lazy, sleepy stupor, he sounded more whiny than Wooyoung on a regular afternoon. The younger made no move to do as such, pulling the towel away from San as the taller man lifted a curious brow. 

San wasn't prepared for a towel full of Wooyoung as the other wrapped San in the rough fabric, hugging him with a comfortable tightness in the process. With Wooyoung's toned arms wrapped around San's slim frame, San felt like a wet, soggy, towel-burrito. But San being San, he wasn't one to reject a hug no matter how soggy it is. 

Wooyoung's warm, plump lips covering his own caught him by surprise, too, the other gripping San's narrow hips with a pressure that grounded both of them to reality. San guessed Wooyoung wasn't planning on just giving him a quick peck to satiate their needs for the moment, so he rested his hands on the black fabric of Wooyoung's shirt, balling it up slightly as the kiss's pressure increased.

San's eyes fluttered shut, focusing on the feeling of the other's warm lips dragging against his own in a steamy haze. Wooyoung swept a brave tongue across San's lower lip, causing San to jolt away while the younger suppressed a childish giggle. Wooyoung recaptured his lips once again, moving a palm to touch the bare skin of San's shoulders and angling his head every so often to meet San in the middle. 

The basic need to breathe caused San to pull away first, ignoring how the other's lips were painted a deep rose instead of the dainty coral it'd been just moments before. The fading steam dropped a heavy weight on San's eyes, and he was suddenly overcome with physical exhaustion. His brain felt fuzzy and filled with static, so much so that he didn't register Wooyoung's mischievous lips prodding at the freckles on his neck. 

"Mmf," San said intelligently, raising a hand to tangle in Wooyoung's long, wavy hair. 

"Nap time?" Wooyoung whispered, his breath fanning over San's ear gentle and warm. 

"Mmm," San replied again, demonstrating his extensive vocabulary as his head dropped to Wooyoung's shoulder. The other still had his hands around San, the grip around his hips being the only thing that kept the towel around the taller man's lithe form. 

"You need to change into something first, babe." Wooyoung gave a soft pat to San's toweled ass. San repressed the urge to tell the other nothing was there, but Wooyoung always told him "pancake is still a cake", so who was he to shame his own flat cheeks? 

"Change? I'm too tired to change..." San trailed off, mind in between the realms of sleep. 

"You don't have to as long as you don't mind sleeping naked." Wooyoung attempted to tease San by peeling the towel from his form, but stopped when San gave no signal of a protest. The towel dropped to the floor anyway. 

"Nakey it is," San smiled proudly, no longer feeling the bite of the air conditioner against his exposed body. Wooyoung gave him another kittenish grin, effectively causing San's heart to lurch for the nth time.

Mind still in a hazy lull, San's stunted perception of time left him wondering how he ended up in the poofy covers of the comforter in no time. He processed the dip in the mattress- Wooyoung- and an armful of what he assumed to be Shiber. 

Backed turned to Wooyoung, San shivered as the other man settled his hands on his bare waist, wondering if it really was a good idea to sleep in the nude. A gentle press of Wooyoung's lips to his nape brought San's dimples to the surface, the taller man gigglig as Wooyoung started to nuzzle his nose against his back like a cat.

The digital clock caught San's attention, the red, pixelated numbers staring him in the face. It was only 12:05 in the afternoon- he'd only woken up an hour and a half ago, and he's going right back to sleep for another four. With Wooyoung here, it might even be five. 

More butterfly kisses were peppered across San's shoulder blades. Wooyoung really liked giving kisses, he's found. If he wasn't so exhausted from doing absolutely nothing, then he'd turn over and reciprocate tenfold. 

"Hey, Sannie? I know I don't say it a lot, but I appreciate you a lot. I just wish you'd appreciate yourself, too." Wooyoung whispered, warm breath ghosting over San's skin. The pads of Wooyoung's fingertips were tracing gentle squiggles into San's hips, and the sensation makes his nerves alight with prickling fire. Maybe he should have at least put on some underwear. 

Also, he wasn't awake enough to deal with emotions at the moment. 

"Mmm?" San replied.

"Okay, okay. You're tired, I know. I'll let you sleep, and then when you wake up, we'll do something fun." 

Doing something fun encapsulated everything from to throwing rocks at each other's nuts, Wooyoung dancing on San's lap, and doing a simple arts and crafts project, but anything sounded like muddled nonsense to his drifting conscience. He was already beginning to dream about Mingi making a sandcastle with him on the beach, Wooyoung appearing as a beautiful mermaid who enchanted a naive dreamscape, sailor boy San.

"Mm." 

"Full of witty quips today, aren't you?" Wooyoung teased. 

The childlike lilt of the other's voice faded into his dream, completely overtaking his conscience as he was fully immersed in the realm of sleep. 

Mermaid Wooyoung was too alluring, and if San was awake, he'd wonder how his mind somehow made an already perfect human being into an even more perfect sea creature. San could see his reflection in the clear ocean water, and all was pleasant until he looked up from his own image. 

Wooyoung was gone now. Strange. 

San couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour, but he awoke feeling his heart palpitations scurrying in his chest like a loose rocket, breathing shallow, hurried breaths. Wooyoung was still wrapped around him like a needy koala, and San exhaled a breath filled with unresolved anxiety.

 _"I just wish you'd appreciate yourself, too."_

He repeated Wooyoung's words in his head until he drifted off once again. He's not sure what this dream was about, exactly, but he does remember the sensation of the scalding bathwater, the suffocating steam covering himself in a blanket that wasn't really a protection, but a cover that hid him just enough.

San still isn't sure what Wooyoung's words mean; he puts up with himself just fine. 

Three more hours later, and he finds Shiber on the floor again. Wooyoung is still there, sitting up and playing that one imposter space game on his phone again. The other gives him a smile and a soft pat on San's shoulder, and San decides that he'll worry about it later.

**Author's Note:**

> Oops weird ending I know


End file.
